


A New Path (Or, A Meeting of Mediums)

by lucidscreamer



Series: The Light of Egypt [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU-gust 2020, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Con Artists, Fortune Telling, Gen, Mediums
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25988434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucidscreamer/pseuds/lucidscreamer
Summary: It was the first time Ryou had witnessed anyone else claiming to do what he could not stop doing, much less doing it and profiting from it.------------The one where genuine medium Ryou Bakura meets con artist Esper Roba in the late 1800s.
Series: The Light of Egypt [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/16993
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7
Collections: AUgust 2020





	A New Path (Or, A Meeting of Mediums)

**Author's Note:**

> prompts:  
> 19\. 19th century au (AU-gust 2020)  
> 3\. Medium (Paranormal 25)  
> 23\. Change (100 YGO Themes)
> 
> NOTE: This will make more sense if you read the earlier ficlets first.
> 
> Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. No ownership of the canon characters, settings, or events is claimed and none should be implied.

Unlike his father, Ryou Bakura didn't have the resources to squander on luxury travel accommodations. He had been making his way toward Egypt by the methods of carriage, train, or his own two feet. Eventually, he booked passage on a steamship bound for the port city of Alexandria.

It was on the steamer that Ryou literally fell into the company of the Roba brothers, having tripped over the youngest Roba in the dark corridor outside the stateroom where the brothers were holding court. The eldest, who went by the moniker of "Esper" in an allusion to his employment as a spiritual medium, was demonstrating his skills in this profession to the wealthy passengers on board the ship -- and subsequently relieving quite a few of them of some of the burden of their excess wealth, if the gossip circulating among the stewards was to be believed.

It was the first time Ryou had witnessed anyone else claiming to do what he could not _stop_ doing, much less doing it and profiting from it. 

Quite without meaning to, Ryou found himself being ushered into the ornately appointed room which had been dressed to look like the tent of some desert pasha. Not giving Ryou the opportunity to object, the boy practically shoved him through the entrance and then vanished into the candlelit gloom.

Ryou hesitated just inside the thick draperies that swathed the doorway, and waited for his eyes to adjust. The room was lit only by clusters of flickering candles that cast eerie shadows on the fabric-draped walls. Everything in sight was draped with lengths of silk and velvet in clashing colors, and strung with lengths of glass beads that glittered in the candlelight. On the round table at the center of the room, a crystal ball squatted like a fat toad on its ornately carved wooden stand. The air smelled of hot candle wax, acrid smoke, and the cloying sweetness of some heavy incense that smoldered on a brazier in one corner. Although Ryou had never been given to claustrophobia, he felt as if the writhing shadows were slowly closing in on him.

When a voice rasped at him from the gloom, Ryou let out a startled yelp.

"Welcome, seeker." The voice was a hoarse whisper of indeterminate gender. "The answers to your questions await you. Come closer and all will be revealed."

The shadows shifted, revealing a figure cloaked in crimson brocade edged with gold tassles, the hood of which concealed the figure's face within its heavy folds. Swallowing back his sudden trepidation, Ryou forced himself to take a step toward this mysterious personage.

"Are you-- Are you Mister Esperanzo Roba, also known as The Master of Mysticism?"

"Indeed I am, young seeker. And who might you be, who comes before the spirits this evening?"

"Oh, uh... My name is Ryou Bakura."

The figure -- now revealed to be the famous spiritualist Esper Roba -- swept one arm out in a dramatic gesture that flared his cloak like a bat's wing. "Then come, Mr. Bakura. Sit with me and we shall see what the future holds for you." 

Roba moved to the table and seated himself in the chair facing Ryou. The chair was elaborately carved, with a high back that made it look a bit like a throne. "You wish a reading, of course. Shall we peer into the visions captured within my crystal ball or would you prefer the revelations of the mystical tarot cards?"

"Oh, I..." Reluctantly, Ryou left his place of relative safety by the entrance and crept gingerly to the chair opposite Roba. He clutched its spindly back without taking a seat. "I… I do have questions that I should like to ask, but…"

The hooded head tilted. Ryou could feel the weight of Roba's hidden gaze as the spiritualist studied him. "Questions about your future? Your past? Perhaps you wish to learn about the lives you lived in the ancient past?"

Ryou couldn't stop the harsh laugh that escaped his throat.

"You don't believe in past lives, Mr. Bakura?" Roba sounded mildly offended.

"Oh, no. I do." Ryou shook his head. "You see, I require no assistance to uncover my past life, for I already know far too much about it."

"Is that so?" 

"Yes. I was a tomb robber in ancient Egypt."

"Not a nobleman or a prince? Or even a mighty pharaoh?" The medium's face remained hidden, but his voice held curiosity and a touch of suppressed amusement.

"No." Ryou sighed. The Tomb Robber's voice in his head was railing at him, calling him unflattering names, not all of them in English. He did his best to ignore it. "Just a common thief. Look, I know this is going to sound strange, but--"

"I have delved into the mysteries of the very cosmos. Nothing you can ask of me will be beyond the wonders I have seen, I assure you. Now." Esper folded his hands on the table in front of him. "What is the wisdom you seek?"

Ryou studied his own hands for a long moment, then looked up to meet the spiritualist's shadowed gaze. "How do I kill a ghost?"

Esper Roba pushed back his hood to stare, agape, at Ryou. Then he grinned. "Cor'! Ain't you a corker?"

"I beg your pardon?" Ryou frowned at him. "I'm perfectly serious!"

"You can't kill a ghost, gov'. It's already dead, innit?" Esper was still grinning at Ryou as if the two of them were sharing a great jest.

He had a point, as Ryou reluctantly conceded. "I suppose it is so. Erm… Is there another way one may rid oneself of an unwanted ghost?" 

"Well, there's always exorcism," Esper said. "Gotta get yourself a Catholic priest for that, and I'm afraid I can't help ya there. Ain't religious meself, much less one o' them."

"Ah. No. I don’t think that's... feasible." Besides, Ryou rather doubted the efficacy of a Christian rite on spirits that had lived thousands of years before the birth of that religion.

 _It would not work_ , agreed a voice that was not, thankfully, that of the Tomb Robber. _If the actions of a priest could remove the thief from this plane, I assure you that I would have done it myself_ long _before now._

Oh, it was the Magician-Priest. He was, perhaps, the least objectionable of the trio of ancient Egyptian spirits who crowded so often into Ryou's head. Ryou shushed him (and got the impression of a mildly irritated huff in return), and then turned his attention back to Roba.

"Is there no other way I might rid myself of these troublesome spirits?" 

"Have ya consulted Shakespeare?" Roba snickered, an action at odds with his earlier persona, but then sobered. "It's not something I've given much thought to, ya understand." Having apparently shaken off his surprise, his accent settled back into its more refined affectation. "My livelihood is based on attracting the attention of the spirits, you see, not ridding myself of them."

"Of course, of course." Ryou nodded, and tried not to let his disappointment get the better of him. He started to turn, intending to leave. "I'll let you get back to your work, then, Mr. Roba."

"Wait." Roba held up a hand, and then gestured for Ryou to remain. "You're serious about these spirits of yours?"

"Oh, yes. They are always around me." Ryou passed a weary hand over his brow. "It's quite exhausting."

"Hm." The glint of avarice came into Roba's sharp eyes as he studied Ryou. "And can you summon these loquacious spirits at will?"

"Indeed I can, to my everlasting misfortune."

"Oh, perhaps not such a _misfortune_ after all, Mr. Bakura." Roba leaned forward to fix Ryou with a businesslike gaze. "Let us talk about the profitability of séances."


End file.
